Some may refer to it as beginner's luck, but in the Melges 32 Class, almost every newcomer surprisingly finds himself first to the weathermark in the first race of the event. Friday was no exception as Puerto Rico's Luis Juarbe on SOCA came on strong to lead for the first two-and-a-half legs. Tomasini Grinover's experience and tactician Vasco Vascotto's eagle eye proved to be too much for Juarbe to hold off. Very strategically, Tomasini Grinover got ahead to secure the win. Mark Plaxton's INTAC came on strong early successfully keeping up to finish second. DeVos' Delta bounced back after a tough start to claim third.

DeVos' groove for speed carried over into Race Two where he found himself rounding the first weathermark dead last, only to make a remarkable, full on recovery for the win. Torres had a great race as they occupied the lead early, but the ever shifting breeze shuffled the fleet continuously leaving him to finish in second. Plaxton held firm to take third as a looming rain shower that had long positioned itself over the island of Tortola finally encroached upon the racing area.

PRO Hank Stuart and his Royal BVI Yacht Club Race Committee did an awesome job, working tirelessly to manage the ever shifting breeze.

For Race Three, they picked up shop and moved closer to the Peter Island side of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Steady and light breezes put Alex Jackson's Leenabarca at the top first, followed by Tomasini Grinover in second, then Torres. Jackson lead through the gate with the Race Committee opting to shorten the course to accommodate the rapidly diminishing breeze. Back upwind, for Tomasini Grinover it was full steam ahead as he overtook Jackson for the lead, Torres moving into a more satisfying second place position, Jackson now third. The painfully light conditions prevailed as Tomasini Grinover proudly took home his second bullet of the day. Torres finished second and Jackson settled for third.

MELGES MEDIA
The IM32CA Press Team is excited to be in the BVI, however on-the-water updates are expected to occur. The connection is slow, so we appreciate everyone's patience as we plan to update the Official Melges 32 Blog regularly. Periodic updates will be posted to Facebook.

Persistency and Determination...

Quintessential All Blacks ad.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Images and words on this blog are copyright to the author(s) concerned. No images may be copied from this blog without the written permission of the copyright holder(s). Words may be reproduced, with written permission from the copyright holder(s), provided that full acknowledgement is made to both the author and location of initial publication, including, but not limited to, webpage links.